ENZYME CYTOCHEMICAL METHOD FOR IDENTIFICATION OF CUCUMBER MOSAIC-VIRUS PARTICLES IN INFECTED-CELLS

A method is described by which it is possible to distinguish electron microscopically, particles of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) from ribosomes in the cytoplasm of infected plant cells by their differential susceptibility to pancreatic ribonuclease (RNase). When hand-cut sections of aldehyde-fixed leaf tissues are incubated in buffer containing 2 μg/ml RNase, the RNA of ribosomes is digested leaving that of CMV particles unaffected. Following incubation, the hand-cut sections are postfixed with osmic acid, dehydrated, embedded, and sectioned for examination in the electron microscope. © 1979.